The present invention relates to the protection of an area of the skin particularly in order to prevent bedsores and/or eschars. More generally, preferred embodiments of the present invention aim to mechanically protect and moisturize a relatively large area of the skin, and particularly an area of the skin weakened for example by pathologies such as psoriasis or eczema, or by a recent scar.
One well-known method involves using polymer gel-based plates such as silicone gel or hydrogel-based plates to protect skin or for load distribution. Now, the constraints related to the desired effect of the plate on the skin often prove contradictory with the constraints related to holding the plate on the area to be protected or to the handling, transport and storage of the plate.
For example, to ensure a load distribution function, one well-known method involves using a plate made of a relatively hard silicone gel of PDMS (polydimethylsiloxane) type. Plates made of a silicone gel less hard, but more adhesive, are for example described in documents FR 2 712 487 and FR 2 904 932. However, silicone gels of this type are not very adhesive, and in any case, not sufficiently adhesive to naturally remain in place on the area to be protected. Furthermore, to ensure sufficient load distribution, the plate must have a thickness of several millimeters, which is not possible if the plate must be held on the area to be protected. Indeed, the thicker the plate edges are, the more they may get caught, thus resulting in the plate being pulled off.
Some documents, for example, documents U.S. Pat. No. 4,655,767 and WO 00/53 139, describe a method of dissociating the treatment or protection function from the function of holding onto the skin, using an adhesive strip onto which the element ensuring the treatment or protection function is arranged. However, this solution is not appropriate, particularly when the surface to be protected is relatively large, and when the skin to be protected is weakened. Indeed, people who are likely to have bedsores often have weakened skin that is poorly vascularised and sometimes dry. Traditional adhesives on a polyurethane film might be aggressive for the skin (pulling off pieces of skin or hairs) when removing the film. This aggressiveness is all the more significant and penalizes skin more when the adhesive surface is large. It is also essential to avoid all risk of allergy, which is frequent with traditional solutions.
It is thus desirable to produce a protection device capable of protecting a relatively large area of skin, with no risk of allergy, and capable of sticking to the skin with no risk of untimely removal and mistreatment of the skin when removing the device.